


Tech Support (The ITGS Team Supports Each Other)

by eyeslikeherfathers



Category: ITGS
Genre: Angst, Friends to Lovers, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Pining, and we're all on the ITGS team, basically some of us have superpowers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-12
Updated: 2014-04-02
Packaged: 2018-01-12 01:15:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 7
Words: 3,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1180168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eyeslikeherfathers/pseuds/eyeslikeherfathers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>lol is this actually a thing????????</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> yo what is up, homies, my fellow itgs friends, today in class i was bored and decided to make an itgs fanfiction!! you are welcome!!!

              Once upon a time, there was a team full of superheroes. That team was called ITGS. Their leader was the fearless Alandri, whose power was the ability to see the future. She always told the rest of the ITGS team when they would be tested on their abilities. On the other hand, the military team general, Chad, commanded the ITGS airforce, and took the ladies to the secret islands of the Caribbean Sea. The team all considered each other to be family and had fights just like any other family. For example, Lauren, the team’s fashion designer, was angry at Hannah, the team’s recreation instructor, for always making her hang out. Whenever Lauren and Hannah fought, the team felt an imbalance in the love scale. They always made up, though. However, one day, an event occurred that not even apologies and ice cream could fix. The romance of Niki and Erin.

           It all began when one typical day, Alandri saw a vision of the future. It made shivers run down her spine and she couldn’t help but to cringe. Two members of her own ITGS team? In a relationship? How about no?! Alandri was positive that a relationship within her own team would completely screw up their family dynamic. She called upon the team’s resident psychologist to ask for advice.

         “Gabby, I really need your help. I saw something really disturbing happen in the future, and I have to prevent it.” Alandri grimaced as she thought of Niki and Erin’s illicit relationship.

        Gabby clasped Alandri’s hands. “What’s wrong, pal?” Gabby’s wide brown eyes widened further.

        Alandri shrugged. “I saw Niki and Erin kissing in my vision.” Gabby squealed. “Wait, that’s literally the cutest thing I have ever heard! How is that a bad thing?”

       Alandri frowned. “Gabby, no. It’s weird! It’s going to ruin everyone’s friendships. What if they broke up? The entire team would be awkward and everyone would have to pick between Niki and Erin. We have to make sure they never fall in love.”

       Gabby’s eyes glistened with tears as she nodded determinedly. “For the good of the team?”

       “For the good of the team.” Alandri shook Gabby’s hand.


	2. Chapter One: Niki In Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tl;dr niki stalks his crush at a gas station and has a heart to heart with rei

Niki gazed at the girl of his dreams from afar. Lauren was beautiful, long legs and long hair, with a laugh that made Niki feel as if he was the most suave guy on the team. He always felt secure when he hung out around Lauren. She made him want to be a better guy and actually inspired him to dance. Niki watched Lauren as she filled her car with gas. She had no idea Niki was watching her, but being around Lauren, whether she knew it or not, really cheered Niki up. Lately Niki had been feeling a bit down, and never really felt like dancing. But whenever Lauren was around, all he wanted to do was dance and express his love. He always imagined living life with Lauren by his side, but he was too afraid of rejection to ask Lauren on a date. 

While Niki was absorbed in his fantasy, Hannah sidled up to him and poked him hard in the stomach. “Whatcha doin, Niki?”

Niki’s stomach flipped. Hannah wasn't supposed to catch him stalking Lauren. He could never tell Hannah about his feelings for Lauren. The two of them were best friends; Hannah would tell Lauren everything immediately and the two of them would probably just make fun of him. Niki laughed nervously. “Uh, nothing, just thinking of my new dance routine.”

Hannah fixed Niki with a look. “Yeah, okay, if you say so.” She wandered away and Niki resumed his fantasy. He pictured Lauren walking down the wedding aisle towards him, wearing a beautiful white dress and a bouquet. Niki slapped his forehead. He felt so stupid. Lauren would never go for a guy like him. She was into rich, white, frat boys. Niki was Indian and while he usually felt confident in his appearance, being around Lauren somehow made him feel extremely inadequate.

Feeling a bit depressed, Niki wrenched himself from his daydream and rode his bike over to his ITGS team mate, and best friend, Rei’s house. He threw a pebble at the window of Rei’s room, which was on the second floor. “Yo, Rei!” He hissed.

Rei’s head popped out of his window, hair disheveled from sleep. “What do you even want, Niki? It’s late.”

Niki rolled his eyes. Rei didn’t sleep until early in the morning. He was probably just watching porn or watching movies. “Let me in, man! I’m tired, and if I go home, my dad will yell at me. Can I spend the night here?”

Rei heaved a deep sigh. “Fine. Come in through the back door so you don’t wake up my parents.” 

 

Niki pumped a fist into the air and jogged around to the back of Rei's house, while Rei presumably put pants on. Rei opened the door for Niki, rubbing his eyes sleepily. "Tell me why you're here, again?"

Niki shrugged. "Didn't want to go home. Do you have any food?" 

The two of them played a few rounds of video games. Niki was uncharacteristically quiet. Rei finally threw down the controller, exasperated. "Niki, what the fuck. You wake me up, sneak into my house, eat my food, and then don't even talk to me."

"Sorry, dude. Lauren just looked really nice today and I'm thinking about her." Niki ran a hand through his hair. "She always looks nice."

Rei held his hand up for a high five. "So you and Lauren hung out today? Nice!"

Niki blushed. "Not really. I just saw her at the gas station. I was going to go talk to her, but Hannah interrupted me."

Rei eyed Niki. "You saw her at the gas station? Or you followed her to the gas station?" Niki didn't answer, instead he stared at the carpet. It really needed to be clean. "Seriously, Niki, this needs to stop. Either tell Lauren how you feel or leave her alone." 

Niki nodded and lifted his head up to meet Rei's stare. "I'll talk to her after the next ITGS team meeting."


	3. Chapter Two: Gabby has a secret

Gabby sat by herself at home, skyping with Alandri. “I really don’t think we have anything to worry about,” Gabby said while drinking chocolate milk. “Niki doesn’t even seem to notice Erin.”

Alandri frowned. “I know what I saw, though. My visions have never been wrong. Ugh, I have to go. Remember, Mission Nerin goes into force at the team meeting.”

Gabby waved at her camera. “See you later, buttercup!”

After logging off of Skype, Gabby closed the curtains of her room and took a deep breath. No one knew that Gabby had developed her powers. Of course, most of the ITGS team had already figured out what their own powers were, but it had seemed like Gabby was a late bloomer. Until now, at least. Gabby focused all of her attention on a pencil on her desk and held her hands behind her back. Sweat poured down Gabby’s forehead as the pencil began to twitch. It rose about a centimeter into the air, then gravity yanked it back to the desk. Gabby shakily sat down and exhaled. She was getting better. 

Gabby would never tell anyone, but she had always been a little bit jealous of Alandri. Alandri was her best friend, and also the first member of the team to develop a power. She had only been twelve, but could tell Gabby which president would win the race without fail. The rest of the team had given all of their attention to Alandri, and Gabby felt left out.

All of that had happened five years ago. Gabby had moved on as all of the other members discovered their powers. Lauren had the power of seduction. Sometimes she didn’t even realize she was flirting with someone until they confessed their undying love approximately fifteen minutes after they met. Chad was completely invincible. Niki could contort his body in impossible ways. Everyone found their calling, the last being Hannah, a year ago discovering she could talk to people with her mind. Gabby had accepted that she might have not been meant to be a part of the ITGS team, until last week, when she had a fight with her mother and a glass broke without anyone touching it.

She didn’t want to tell any of the other members yet because all of their powers seemed effortless. If Gabby tried to move anything besides pencils and cups, she tended to pass out or get severe migraines. She wanted to perfect her ability before presenting it to the group. 

What Gabby didn't know was that the group was in dire need of her power.


	4. Chapter Three: How the team met (except for two of the members)

The ITGS team hadn’t always been friends. The first time they met each other was in training, on Planet RAM (Rulers of American Machinery). They had been selected to be in the same training squad, and while many of the members would inevitably become best friends, at the time, they were complete strangers.

~many years ago~

“Alright, grasshoppers. I’m going to assign squads now. These people will be with you for the rest of your lives, so please try to be relatively decent towards each other.” Commander Turner gestured towards the ten year olds, some of them still crying after their parents dropped them off. He rolled his eyes. Kids were always so overdramatic. A child tugged on his sleeve. Turner glanced down. “Can I help you?” 

The little girl sniffled. “I don’t know anybody here and I miss my mommy.” Commander Turner scanned the room.

“Alright, here’s what we’re going to do, okay? First of all, stop crying. Technology heroes never cry.” The whiny girl ceased her weeping abruptly. Turner nodded approvingly. “Next, I’m going to put you in a group, and then you’ll make friends. Go stand with all the other kids and you’ll be fine.”

The child trudged off to stand with the other three hundred students, thumb in her mouth. Turner cleared his throat, and the room fell silent. Turner separated the group into groups of eight and smiled. Perfect fit. He could see the crying girl talking energetically to a chubby Indian boy, past worries forgotten.

“I’m Lauren and I like animals and pop music! What’s your name?” The girl beamed at the bespectacled boy with the mop of black hair. He grinned tentatively.

“My name is Niki. I saw you crying earlier. Are you okay?” Niki asked shyly, scuffing his shoe against the ground. Lauren blushed.

“Oh yeah, I’m fine! I’m not a crybaby!” She crossed her arms and glared at Niki. He frowned.

“I never said you were!” He shot back. Lauren smiled.  
“Oh, okay! Want to be friends, then?” She held out her hand for a high five and Niki slapped it with a gigantic smile.

Meanwhile in the same group, a skinny girl with braided pigtails approached a girl and boy in the middle of a conversation. Another girl sat by herself, drawing in a sketchbook. The girl talking was laughing wholeheartedly and the boy was fiddling with the strings on his hoodie. “Can I hang out with you guys?” The girl with the pigtails asked.

The boy shrugged. “I guess. I’m Rei, and this is Gabby. Who are you?” The girl who had been talking waved when her name was mentioned.

“I’m Alandri! Apparently there’s two other people in our group who didn’t come to training today, which kinda sucks for them, since we’re all gonna know each other and they won’t, but oh well, at least you guys are here! Do you like grilled cheese? My mom packed me so much food!” The girl with the pigtails started to pull sandwiches out of her backpack and the rest of the team crowded around her as the smell of food wafted around. 

From that day onward, Alandri was known as the leader of the team.


	5. Chapter Four: In which something problematic occurs

On his way to the ITGS meeting, Chad could sense something amiss in the air. He walked down a deserted street and the sky began to darken. The air had a strange, electric buzz to it. He began to walk a little faster, and tugged his coat tighter around him. Chad knew nothing could truly harm him, but didn't want to be held up from the meeting. He stepped around the corner of a building and froze. 

Gabby was in the shower before the ITGS meeting, eyes closed as she washed her hair. She sang along to the radio under her breath, and didn't notice when the shower curtain was silently pushed open. The next thing Gabby knew, there was a blindfold over her eyes and someone roughly pushing her out the door, still dripping wet and naked. 

Lurking outside of Lauren's house, Niki startled when he heard a blood-curdling scream. “Lauren!” Niki yelled, heart racing. He debated whether to break into her house and make sure she was alright, or to ignore the screams and maintain his dignity. After all, what if she was just frustrated or dropped a glass? Niki slapped his own cheeks and tried the front door. It was unlocked. Niki gulped and headed into the silent house. 

When Gabby woke up, her wrists were bound with metal handcuffs attached to the wall, her blindfold was gone, and she still wasn't wearing clothes. Her kidnapper had loosely wrapped a towel around her but Gabby knew if she accidentally shifted in the wrong direction, or someone tugged on the towel, she would be completely exposed. Gabby sniffled. “Is anyone here?” She called out cautiously.

“Gabby?” An Indian accent met her ears. “Oh my god, is that you?” 

Gabby sighed in relief. “Yeah. Niki, where are we?” 

Niki exhaled audibly. “I don't know. I thought I was alone. I think they took Lauren.”

“It's gonna be okay, lil guy.” Gabby attempted a smile. “We'll get her back and kick these guys' butts.”

Light suddenly flooded the room. Niki and Gabby blinked rapidly as their eyes tried to adjust to the brightness. “Yo, who are you?” Niki called out angrily. 

A low chuckle met their ears. “You don't need to know that right now. I'm going to let you go now, but you must remember that I can defeat all of you whenever I wish.” 

Gabby grimaced. If her powers had been further developed, she could have unlocked the handcuffs and tried to help Niki escape. Niki nodded defeatedly. The lights cut off again and a weird aroma filled the room. When Gabby next awoke, she was sitting in her shower, water running down her back. Her phone beeped urgently. Gabby checked the text.

_Help. Chad is missing._


	6. Chapter Five: Chad is on a Tripp

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it has been a while friends  
> also pls stop telling ms katembo about this lmao (srsly tho)

Chad was floating somewhere. Or maybe he wasn’t. Maybe he was asleep. Maybe he was dead. Chad wasn’t sure. All he could see was darkdarkdark and he didn’t know whether that was his actual surroundings or just the insides of his eyelids. He tried to lift a hand, but couldn’t feel anything. He frowned (or at least he thought he was frowning). If this was what death was like, the next eternity would prove to be exceedingly boring. 

Chad wasn’t a big fan of being alone. He liked to share his ideas and opinions with everyone around him. He was scared of being alone with his thoughts. He sighed and resigned himself to his loneliness. He sank once more into oblivion.

Somewhere far away from Chad, Gabby and Alandri conversed. All Alandri knew was that Chad was lost somewhere, most likely being held against his will. They hadn’t told Niki yet. The relationship between Niki and Chad was a special one, and Alandri didn’t know how to break it to Niki that Chad was gone, possibly forever. Gabby stayed quiet. She felt like Chad missing was her own fault. If Gabby had developed her powers further, she could have fought her kidnapper. She could have seen the face of her captor. Chad wouldn’t have been taken if she had beaten the kidnapper. That is, assuming their kidnappers were the same person. 

Alandri buried her head in her hands. “We have to find a way to get Chad back. We aren’t safe without him.”

Gabby felt tears prickling behind her eyes. She had inadvertently caused the ITGS team to become unsafe. “What do we do?”

Alandri straightened her shoulders and stood up straight. “Okay. I need to call Rei. He might be able to help. I have a weird vision and I think he’d be able to explain it.” 

Gabby nodded hesitantly. Usually Alandri told her about her visions. She hadn’t told her about this one. Maybe she didn’t trust Gabby anymore. 

The two parted and Alandri biked to Rei’s house. She banged on the door. “Let me in, Rei!”

She heard Rei laugh from behind the door. “God Alandri, you sound impatient.” He dragged out each syllable slowly and excruciatingly long. Alandri balled her hands into fists. She backed away from the door, took a running start, and round house kicked the door down. Rei stood behind the door in astonishment.

“Alandri what the hell.” Rei gestured wildly to the door. Alandri shrugged. 

“I’ll pay you back later. I need to ask you a favor.” She fixed her steely gaze on Rei’s blue eyes. He nodded.

“You know I’d do anything for you.” Alandri nodded.

“I trust you, Rei. Chad’s missing and I saw a vision of something underwater. I need you to communicate with the fish and see what they know.” Rei took a small step back. Alandri continued. “I know it’s asking a lot, but it’s so important. You may be our only hope at getting Chad back.”

Rei gulped and shuddered as a flashback ripped through him.

_Rei was eight years old. He was swimming, deeper and deeper than he had ever swum before. He felt good. No, he felt great. He could feel small schools of fish rustling against his skin, each one calling his name. He swam deeper. It was getting dark and the water was getting cold, but Rei continued on. He saw a bright light in the distance. He swam towards it, grinning as he inhaled the water. Rei knew he wasn’t like normal children. He didn’t drown and he didn’t feel the pressure that most divers would have felt by now. He didn’t feel too cold, just a slight chill in the below freezing waters of Albania. The light came closer. He called out to it, asking its name. All he received was a warning feeling, a warning to stay away. Rei treaded water. He wanted to make a new friend. The light came closer. Suddenly Rei decided he could make a new friend during the day, and in shallower water. He turned around. That was when he felt the clamp of teeth on his ankle._

Rei never remembered how he escaped the monstrous fish, but he had never swum deep enough to talk to intelligent fish since. Alandri was the only member of the team who knew his powers ranged beyond merely breathing underwater. Chad’s face flashed through his mind. Chad. The egotistical, military fanatic who actually had a heart of gold. Rei found himself nodding. “I’ll do it.”


	7. Chapter Six: rachel finally wrote herself in

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hehehehehehehehhehehehehehehehehehehehehe

Rei took a deep breath and dove into the ocean. Alandri waved nervously from the ITGS submarine window as she followed Rei as far as she dared. She didn’t want to say anything in front of Rei, or the rest of the team, for that matter, but she was extremely scared Rei wouldn’t come back. She pressed her forehead to the sub window and watched him swim away, possibly to his undersea doom. 

Rei, on the other hand, felt fantastic. He did a couple of somersaults in the cool water and cherished the feeling of water swishing around his sides. He swam until he couldn’t see the ITGS submarine anymore and he felt a weird sense of regret. The feeling passed quickly and he smiled widely, opening his mouth and letting the salty water stream through the gills that appeared on his neck that came whenever he completely emerged himself in water. The gills had felt weird and out of place at first, but Rei quickly grew used to them and loved the feeling of breathing through his neck. 

After swimming around aimlessly for a few minutes, Rei decided he needed to get it together and actually try to find a clue towards Chad’s whereabouts. He swam after a clownfish and waved. 

“Can I help you?” The clownfish grinned and waved its fin. Rei nodded eagerly.

“I’m looking for my friend! Or at least, someone who knows where he could be.” Rei explained. 

The fish nodded thoughtfully. “I think I might know someone who could help.” He replied. “Follow me!”

The fish took off swimming and Rei quickly paddled after it. He couldn’t believe it had been so easy to befriend a fish! The fish had been so polite, which Rei wouldn’t have expected from a clownfish. They tended to be more sarcastic and class clown type personalities. 

The two swam in silence until finally the fish halted. Rei had no idea where he was. All he could see around him was anemone and coral. Suddenly he heard a human voice. A female voice. Were there more people like him? People who could breathe and talk underwater?

He inched forward, his face hidden from the coral reef by anemone. He glimpsed a girl with long brown hair and brown eyes, laughing and playing with the surrounding fish around her. He gasped. She had a tail. 

Rei rubbed his eyes. A girl with a tail? He had seen some weird things in his life, but mermaids? That was taking it a bit too far. He accidentally swallowed some krill and coughed. The girl immediately fell silent and her head snapped to attention. 

“Hello? Is someone there?” She asked cautiously. 

Rei slowly swam out from behind the anemone. The girl’s eyes widened and she backed away. “What the hell?” She asked. “What are those?” She pointed towards his legs. Rei scoffed.

“Rude. What’s that?” He pointed towards her tail. She crossed her arms.

“My tail, idiot. Who even are you?” She swam closer to him. Rei could see every individual scale in her tail sparkle and reflect the coral. 

“Uh, I’m Rei. I come from above!” He mentally slapped himself. I come from above? Really? Way to sound like a complete noob.

The mermaid smiled. “Well, ‘Rei from Above’, I’m Rachel. From below, I guess.”

Rei awkwardly nodded. “Cool.”

Rachel stared at her tail. “Cool.”

The two treaded water in silence before Rei spoke. “So, uh, do you, by any chance, know where some guy named Chad is?”

Rachel shrugged. “Who’s Chad?”

“My friend. He’s probably been kidnapped.” Rei responded matter of factly. Rachel nodded sympathetically.

“I hate it when that happens.” 

Rei rolled his eyes. “Okay. Is there anything you can do to help find him? I don’t know, some creepy mermaid power or something?” 

“Um, excuse me? I think you’re the creepy one here. You don’t even have a tail for God’s sake. But yeah. Yeah I could probably help you out. I can track people down due to this weird power thing I got when I was ten. But you’re going to need to help me out too.”

Rei nodded slowly. “Depends on what it is. I’m not performing some crazy fish human sacrifice or anything like that.”

Rachel scoffed. “Who do you think I am? I’m a mermaid, it’s not a cult or anything. But yeah. I want to go above water and see the world. Actually interact with real people instead of fish all day.” She glanced at the fish around her. “Not that you guys aren’t cool or anything.”

Rei nodded. “Deal.”


End file.
